Exit 9

“What about family?”

“No. I’ve been at work all day. Haven’t talked to anyone. Please, just let them go. They’re just kids.”

Perez remained silent, considering what the man had told him. After several seconds, he decided the guy was telling the truth.

“What I don’t think you understand,” he said, “is that the greater evil would be to let them go. What I can give them now, give you now, will save you a lot of pain later.”

“What are you talking about? Please, harming us isn’t necessary.”

“Fine. If that’s what you want. I will let them go.”

Perez was waiting for it, that look of relief he knew would pass through the man’s face. As soon as it did, Perez pulled his trigger twice, each bullet piercing the man’s forehead. The guy dropped to the ground, dead before gravity even took hold.

In Perez’s mind, what he’d done was humane. The man died thinking his two friends would be allowed to live. It was a small gesture, but a thoughtful one as far as Perez was concerned.

He turned his pistol to the kid on the floor, and put a single shot between his eyes.

With a sigh, he checked the older man for ID, wanting to know if he’d been lying about being a cop. Sadly, no. He’d told the truth. That meant it was all the more important to locate any car the man might have arrived in and have it moved.

That was second priority at the moment, though. The girl was number one.

Perez headed around the container and out of the room. Unfortunately, despite the condition of the building, the floor did not readily show prints. He glanced back at the room where the hole in the cabinet came out. Contrary to what he’d said, he hadn’t blocked it.

Had she checked? Or was she somewhere else in the building?

His bet was that she was somewhere in the building, so he began a room-by-room search. What he found was…nothing.

For the first time, he felt angry. If she got away, she would surely bring others back. And if that happened, the IDM would be discovered, which might snowball to others being found, too.

How long before she might return? Minutes? Hours? A day?

No, not a day. At best, hours, but even that might be unrealistic.

There were contingency plans for situations such as this. The payload of this particular IDM would have to be destroyed immediately. Each of the devices was equipped with one of two different types of self-destruct mechanisms. This particular mechanism would superheat the interior to the point where the metal of the box itself would melt, and there would be nothing left for anyone to know what was inside. Perez preferred the boxes that simply exploded, but this would do.

He returned to the box, used the master combination to open one of the side doors, then engaged the self- destruct. To give himself enough time to get away, he set it on a ten-minute delay. If the girl and whoever she brought arrived before then, too bad. They’d be consumed by the blaze. If not, then there’d be nothing left to prove her story. Even the bodies of the two men would be gone.

Ten minutes. That would be more than enough.

Patricia heard the board in the floor creak in the room just on the other side of the wall. She stopped breathing, afraid that even a slight sound might be enough to give her position away. If it had been Rodrigo, he would have called out her name, but whoever it was hadn’t said a word.

Another creak, this one closer to the wall.

He’s going to see the rat hole. He’s going to see the rat hole and know I went through it.

She could hear him approach the hole. In her mind’s eye, she saw him kneeling down, examining the opening, sticking his head in just enough so that he could look down the inside of the wall to her hiding spot behind the fireplace. She was so sure that was exactly what was going to happen, she at first refused to believe her ears when the sound of the floorboards grew fainter and fainter.

Not only did he not look through the hole, he wasn’t even in the room anymore. The breath she’d been holding rushed out of her lungs.

He didn’t know she was there. He didn’t know. Her elation lasted mere seconds, though. What about Rodrigo and Uncle Hector? If the man’s walking around, had they gotten away? Or…

She didn’t want to think about it. She couldn’t think about it. If she did, she’d start screaming and the man would know where she was.

She forced herself to calm down. She had to assume it was up to her to get away and find help. But how? She couldn’t just crawl back through the rat hole and leave the way she’d entered the building. He’d said the opening through the cabinet was blocked off, so it would take time for her to clear it. He’d see her for sure. And if he had hurt either of the other two, they might need immediate help, so waiting until the man left wasn’t an option. She couldn’t hear him anymore, so it would be very unlikely she’d know when he was gone. In fact, she thought it was a very good possibility that he wouldn’t leave at all but silently wait her out instead.

Patricia wasn’t about to give up, though. Her brother and uncle were relying on her.

She looked around her cramped space, wishing there was some other way she could get-

Is that the sky?

Above her a slit of light glowed through an open seam in the ceiling. Could she get there? Was there a way to get through the old part of the roof if she did?

Once more she scanned her surroundings, but with different focus this time. The walls were out of the question. If she tried to climb them, there was no way she’d be able to do so without making a lot of noise. Plus, there was the very real possibility they might collapse under her weight.

There was another option-the chimney she’d been leaning against. It ran all the way up to the ceiling. In fact, the crack she’d seen might very well be where the roof met it. She twisted around and gave the stacked stones a closer inspection.

It wouldn’t be easy, but if she was careful, she thought she could do it. Not could, she corrected herself. She had to do it. She would do it.

Examining each stone before she grabbed it, she began to climb. A little over halfway up, without thinking, she put a hand on the wall to steady herself. The wood groaned from the pressure, and she immediately froze in place. For half a minute, she did nothing but listen for the man, sure he would check the noise, but as far as she could tell, he hadn’t returned. Maybe he just thought it was the normal settling sound of the structure. Or maybe he was gone.

She continued upward, moving past the height of the ceilings in the rooms, and into what had probably been the attic. Exposed beams, no floor, and not enough room for her to stand up if there had been. About twenty feet to her left, she could see where the attic had been sealed off, and beyond would be the recently installed removable roof.

The original roof was about four feet above her head. She could almost reach it with the tips of her fingers. She looked for a new spot on the chimney where she could grab and pull herself the rest of the way up, but there were no good options. She would have to use the beams, which meant noise.

She looked up again. The roof was definitely weak. She felt confident she could tear through it pretty quickly, but fast enough to make an opening, climb through it, then get off the roof and run for safety before the man came outside and found her?

Did she have any other choice than to try?

No. She didn’t.

Once she started moving, she’d have to keep going, every second critical, so she needed to plan it all out. She checked the roof, looking for the best spot to break through. She settled on an area a few feet beyond the chimney, where it sagged as if the addition of a single leaf on top would cause it to completely collapse. Hopefully, it would take little effort to finish the job herself.

She took a deep breath, and another, imagining what she needed to do. She placed her hands on the beams to either side, slowly transferring her weight, and was pleased that they made little sound.

“Up. Through the roof. Down to the edge. And run,” she whispered to herself as if giving an order.

Then, just as she was about to move, she heard a whoosh.